Postcards From Detroit: From the days when the Detroit Grand Prix was just that - A Grand Prix

The gleaming Renaissance Center as a backdrop instantly identifies the location of this photo, although the driver, Oscar Larrauri, remains unknown to all but the most ardent F1 fans. Larrauri, driving for the Euro Brun-Ford team, failed to qualify for most of the races in 1988, but he did make it into the Detroit field, retiring with gearbox failure after 26 laps.

There've been a lot of familiar faces associated with Formula 1 through the years, but few people have tirelessly supported the sport as has three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart. During the first Detroit Grand Prix, he was everywhere talking about the sport-even though he had retired from the cockpit some time before.

Martin Brundle, left, and Eddie Cheever talk before qualifying for the 1987 race. Brundle was driving for Zakspeed, and Cheever had moved to the Arrows-Megatron team, the fifth team he drove for in the seven years of the Detroit race. The 1987 event wasn't kind to Brundle, who retired from the race with mechanical problems. Cheever went on to finish sixth.

The first Detroit Grand Prix practice session had been slated for Thursday, June 3, as Motown had landed a Formula 1 race without ever having hosted another race event. The extra day of practice was scheduled to give everyone more time on the track. But the circuit wasn't ready and, in fact, wasn't ready until late afternoon of Friday, June 4. To pass time, reigning World Champion Nelson Piquet relaxed catching a Frisbee and kicking a makeshift soccer ball.

Newspapers and magazines weren't quite as celebrity hungry as they are today, but even in 1982 a supermodel and her race driver/heir-to-a-fortune boyfriend were newsworthy. Christie Brinkley, with a beautiful Leica camera around her neck, was in Detroit to watch then boyfriend Olivier Chandon participate in one of the support races during the weekend. Less than a year later, Chandon, heir to the Mot & Chandon champagne empire, would die while testing a Formula Atlantic car at Moroso Park in Florida.

Ayrton Senna waits for qualifying with his John Player Special Team Lotus crew. The 1986 event began a three-race string of Motown wins for the Brazilian. We love this photo for the relaxed look Senna has while sitting in the Lotus, the umbrella shading him from the sun. Just another Saturday afternoon.

Nigel Mansell the gymnast. After going over the track wall to take care of a little business-a "pit stop" into the Detroit River-Mansell hops back over the track wall to head to the pits. Doing such a maneuver with a helmet on isn't as easy at it looks. And they say race car drivers aren't athletes.

Paul Newman is famously shy about dealing with the media, and for the most part during his appearances in Detroit, he'd get in his car in the safety of the paddock and have the car pushed to pit lane to avoid the media crush. Having a Hollywood face in town helped contribute to the glamour factor that was the Detroit Grand Prix.

This is one of two photos I was responsible for taking on race day. Here, Ayrton Senna in his McLaren heads into the first turn with the crowded grandstands and the gleaming Renaissance Center in the background. With thousands of people packing downtown on a Sunday afternoon, Detroit rarely looked better.

For decades the start of a Formula 1 race has been the most exciting and the most dangerous in motorsport, as exemplified by the start of the 1984 race. And nowhere in American racing could photographers and spectators, many of whom are shown here running for cover, get this close to a racetrack. Nelson Piquet, on pole, was slow to start, and Nigel Mansell, coming up fast from behind, bumped Piquet into the wall, where he was hit hard by Marc Surer's Arrows. Piquet's front wheel was ripped off the car and bounced across the track, striking the Toleman-Hart of Ayrton Senna and damaging his front suspension.